The Struggles of Change
by shana852963
Summary: Sequel to Out of Sight, Still in Mind. With him and Sam officially together, Freddie tries to figure out his role in the family as the soon-to-be step-father of Sam's twins. Meanwhile, Sam's past comes back to haunt her, bringing back memories she hoped to never relive.
1. Chapter 1

Sam groaned as she heard her alarm clock blare on the bedside table. She quickly pounded the snooze button and rolled over, trying to salvage just a few more moments of sleep before she had to wake up.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist and she instantly felt wide-awake.

"Morning," Freddie said groggily.

"I don't think it qualifies as morning unless the sun is out," Sam yawned.

"Come on, you need to start getting ready," Freddie said, rational as usual.

"I don't want to," Sam moaned. She put her arms around her fiancé's neck and kissed him. "How about we just stay in bed all day? I haven't gotten to use no energy in _forever_."

"As tempting as that is…" Freddie smirked. "You know I have to go into work this morning to give a quick presentation. And you have to go chase crazy people down and arrest them."

"Still not used to being on this side of that whole deal," Sam chuckled, sitting up and slowly sliding out of bed.

"Eh, stranger things have happened," Freddie said.

"Like what?"

"Um…nothing comes to mind right now, but I'll think harder," Freddie said.

"Right," Sam grinned. "Anyway, I get the shower first."

"You always take it first," Freddie said, rolling his eyes. "You just want _me _to go wake up the twins."

"Well they're horrible to try and wake up," Sam pointed out. "It's like trying to wake up a-a-"

"A _you_?" Freddie finished for her.

"Well…yeah," Sam nodded. She leaned back down and gave him another kiss. "Please baby?"

"Fine," Freddie sighed. "I'll wake them up. Go enjoy your shower."

"Smart boy," Sam said approvingly.

Freddie watched her head out of the bedroom the bathroom across the hall. He had moved in Sam and her twins nearly four months ago, a week after they had become engaged, and he still hadn't gotten over how unbelievable it felt getting to start every morning with her. He couldn't wait to do it every day for the rest of his life.

Kicking back his covers, Freddie heaved himself out of the bed and started down the hall to Kira and Leah's shared bedroom.

He softly pushed open the door and saw one of the two beds already neatly made and the other still occupied.

"Kira," Freddie said, gently shaking the thirteen-year olds shoulder. "Kira, come on, time for school."

"I still have time to sleep," Kira mumbled, burying her head in her pillow, just like Sam often did.

"No, actually, your alarm went off ten minutes ago," Freddie said. "You must've fallen back asleep."

"Five more minutes," Kira moaned.

"How about this?" Freddie offered. "If you get out of bed now…I'll stop and buy you and Leah those milkshakes you like after I pick you up from school today?"

Kira's head jolted up. "The Chocolate Extravaganza?"

"The very same."

"Alright, alright, I'm up," Kira said, jumping out of bed.

Freddie smiled as he followed Kira out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where Leah was already seated at the table, eating a bowl of cereal.

"Morning, Freddie," she said happily.

"Morning, Leah," Freddie replied. "You're up early…for once."

"I wanted to get a jump on the day," Leah said, causing her twin to scoff.

"Um, Kira?" Freddie frowned as he watched the girl grab a bag of chocolate chips and pour them into a bowl. "Don't you think that's a sort of…_odd _breakfast choice?"

"No," Kira shrugged, popping a few chocolate chips into her mouth.

"Well, um, I think your mom probably wants you to have something a little bit…healthier for breakfast," Freddie reasoned. "You know, like toast. Or I can make you some eggs."

"Mom eats stuff like this all the time," Kira pointed out.

"True," Freddie agreed. "But-"

"Where is mom anyway?" Leah asked.

"In the shower," Freddie told her.

"I'm out," Sam said, suddenly coming into the kitchen, her hair still slightly damp. She looked over at Kira, who was still enjoying her bowl of chocolate chips.

"Hey!" she said firmly, taking the bowl from her daughter. "No chocolate for breakfast!"

"You dip your bacon in chocolate!" Kira exclaimed indignantly.

"Yeah, well, don't take after me," Sam said, tossing a few pieces of chocolate in her mouth. "There's bagels on the counter. Go eat one."

"So mom," Leah said as Sam sat down next to Freddie. "What's on your agenda for today?"

"Um…I dunno, work?" Sam said, confused.

"Okay," Leah nodded. "And you, Freddie?"

"Huh?" Freddie said. "Oh, well, I'm going into work until twelve…then I have nothing planned until I pick you and Kira up from school, I guess."

"Interesting…"Leah said slowly.

"What?" Sam frowned.

"Nothing," Leah said. "Except neither one of you mentioned _anything _about _any _wedding planning!"

"Oh God," Kira said, rolling her eyes.

"Leah, we've done some wedding planning," Sam said.

"Yeah," Freddie nodded. "We did some work a couple weeks ago."

"It was a _month _ago, and you guys didn't even pick a date yet!" Leah told them. "All mom did was look at wedding cakes."

"That's the most important part of the wedding!" Sam defended.

Freddie sighed and looked over at his fiancé. "Hey, maybe she's right. We've been engaged for four months and we really haven't put too much thought into this wedding yet. I mean, it's only a matter of time before Carly decides to fly over here from Seattle and start doing everything herself."

"Yeah…imagine her and Leah _together _for all of this," Sam shuddered. "We wouldn't have a second of peace."

"So will you start planning stuff?" Leah asked.

Sam looked up at Freddie. "Okay," she conceded. "I guess it wouldn't _kill _us to look at some dates and stuff tonight."

"Yes!" Leah cheered triumphantly.

"You _need _a life," Kira sneered.

"Look who's talking," Leah retorted.

"Alright, well, you guys are going to be late if we don't get going," Freddie said before the twins could start a full-blown argument.

"Have fun at school," Sam said, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"Like that's possible," Kira scoffed.

"Eh, I'm required to say it," Sam said. "Just try not to fall asleep in science again."

"We'll see."

"Oh, mom, is it okay if I go to the mall with some girls from the cheerleading squad after school today?" Leah asked. "One of their moms is driving."

"Um, sure, that's fine," Sam shrugged. "Have fun."

"So," Freddie said as the twins bid Sam a quick goodbye before heading out of the kitchen. "We're really going to start planning the wedding tonight?"

"I think I can manage to squeeze in twenty minutes of that," Sam smiled, leaning up and kissing him.

"I'll take it," Freddie chuckled.


	2. Chapter 2

Freddie sat in his car in front of the nearby middle school, watching the hundreds of pre-teens pour out of the building. He always picked Leah and Kira up from school; it was much more convenient than Sam having to rush to do it during her lunch break like she had been doing before Freddie came into the picture.

He saw Leah first, walking with a large crowd of laughing kids and wearing her cheerleading uniform. Freddie noticed one of the boys in the group was walking a bit closer to Leah than usual, but before he could give it a second thought, Leah gave her friends a quick wave before running over to the car.

"Hey Freddie," she said brightly.

"Hey Leah," Freddie smiled. "You ready to go?"

"Don't you remember? My mom said I could go to the mall after school," Leah told him.

"Oh, right," Freddie nodded. "Well, um, have fun then. You need any money or anything?"

"No, we're just going to look around," Leah replied. "But can you tell my mom I'll be home by dinner?"

"Sure thing," Freddie assured her. "Any idea where Kira is?"

"Who knows?" Leah shrugged. "Well, see you Freddie!"

Freddie watched as she ran back to her group of friends. He knew Leah must be one of the "popular kids" at school. Sam even sometimes said she was way too popular for her own good. Her and Sam would argue at least once a week about why she wasn't allowed to have a later curfew like all of her friends or why she couldn't date yet or go to all of the "cool" parties. Freddie liked to stay out of these fights. He obviously agreed with Sam on most of the matters; he didn't think a thirteen-year old girl should be staying out late at night at some party with absolutely no adult supervision, but he didn't want to risk ruining his relationship with Leah.

A few minutes after Leah had disappeared, Freddie spotted Kira coming out of the school. Unlike her sister, she was walking by herself.

"Hey, how was school?" Freddie asked as Kira slid into the front seat.

"Tons of fun," Kira replied, her voice dripping in sarcasm, reminding Freddie so much of Sam when she was that age.

"Well didn't you have a science test today?" Freddie continued. "How was that?"

"I got a B-," Kira mumbled.

"Good," Freddie said encouragingly. He knew Kira struggled in school a lot, so getting a grade above a C for her was a big deal.

"Yeah, well Ms. _Perfect _got an A," Kira said darkly.

"Come on, Leah's best subject is science," Freddie pointed out. "You did great, Kira."

"Thanks," Kira muttered.

"And it looks like it's just you and me for the afternoon," Freddie said as he began to pull out of the school parking lot. "So how about you and I go grab those milkshakes I promised you in the morning and then we go to the park and shoot a few baskets."

Kira gave him a small smile. "You suck at basketball, Freddie."

"Yes I do," Freddie agreed. "So are you still in?"

Kira nodded. "Only if you promise not to try and do another slam dunk; you fell flat on your face last time."

"Deal," Freddie grinned.

…

"Carly, I _told _you, we're going to start really planning everything tonight," Freddie said, holding his cell phone between his ear and his shoulder as he stirred a pot of steamed vegetables on the stove.

"Do I need to come over there?" Carly asked on the other line. "And make _sure _you really start?"

"Trust me, Leah's doing an excellent job of making sure Sam and I get this done," Freddie said.

"Well when Sam gets home, tell her to give me a call, because I have a stack of bridal magazines with all the dresses I know she'll love marked off," Carly said. "Oh, and I found a few bands that you guys might want to have play at the reception."

"Thanks Carls," Freddie said as he heard the apartment door open. "Anyway, I have to go. Dinner's almost ready."

"Alright, I'll talk to you later," Carly said. "Tell the twins I said hi."

"Will do," Freddie nodded. "Bye."

He hung up the phone just as Leah came into the kitchen.

"How was the mall?" Freddie asked as Leah slowly sat down at one of the chairs around the table.

"Um, it was good," Leah replied.

Freddie glanced over at her and noticed an odd expression on her face, almost like a pained one.

"You okay, Leah?" Freddie asked, concerned.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine," Leah said quickly.

Freddie raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Yup," Leah nodded. She got to her feet. "In fact, why don't I help you cook?"

She headed over to the spice cabinet and stood on her toes, reaching for the pepper grinder. As she reached, the top of her cheerleading uniform rose a tiny bit, and Freddie caught sight of something shiny.

"Whoa, Leah!" Freddie said. "Is that-Did you get your bellybutton pierced?"

"No!" Leah said at once, pulling down her shirt.

"Then what was-"

"Okay, yes," Leah conceded. "I-I got it done at the mall this afternoon."

"Leah," Freddie sighed. "You-You know your mom isn't going to be happy about this."

"But all my friends were going to do it," Leah told him. "And it was my friend's older sister that did it. She works at a body shop. And I really wanted it and I know mom would totally freak out."

"Yes, but still…" Freddie said. "You shouldn't have done it. I mean you have to be especially careful about infections you know. You only have one kidney! What if the piercing gun wasn't sanitized properly or-"

"But I'm fine, Freddie," Leah pointed out. "I swear. Everyone's sore right now, but it's supposed to feel better in the morning."

"Okay, but-" Freddie began.

"Please don't tell my mom?" Leah pleaded.

"Leah, she has to know," Freddie reasoned.

"I'll tell her," Leah told him. "Eventually…Just let me figure out a good time and I swear I will."

Freddie bit his lip. He knew Sam would kill him if she found out he kept something like this. But then again…He had such a good relationship with Leah right now. He sometimes almost felt like they were father and daughter. He didn't want to ruin that.

"Okay," Freddie finally agreed. "But you _have _to tell your mom soon, alright?"

"Totally!" Leah beamed, throwing her arms around Freddie. "You're the best, Freddie!"

Just then the apartment door opened again and Sam walked into the kitchen a few seconds later.

"Guess who got to arrest six people today," Sam announced.

"Good job," Freddie said, giving her a quick kiss as Leah smoothed down her shirt to make sure her mother wouldn't see her new piercing.

"Too bad that means about a ton of paper work," Sam sighed. "I can probably pass half of it over to Caleb, though. What's for dinner?"

"Baked chicken and steamed vegetables," Freddie replied.

"Excuse me?" Sam cringed.

"Come on, it's healthy," Freddie pointed out. " But since I _knew _you would react like this, I picked you up some cupcakes from the new bakery a couple blocks over."

"See, this is why we're getting married," Sam grinned. She turned to Leah. "So how was the mall?"

"Fine," Leah said, a bit too quickly.

Sam gave her a strange look but said nothing.

"Where's Kira?" Sam asked Freddie.

"In her room, supposedly doing homework," Freddie replied.

"Yeah…like that's happening," Sam said, rolling her eyes as she reached for some plates to begin setting the table.

"I'll do that," Leah said, taking the plates from her mother.

"Um…okay," Sam frowned.

"So Sam," Freddie said before his fiancé could question Leah's strange behavior. "You ready for some serious wedding planning tonight?"

"I guess," Sam groaned. "Or we could watch reruns of _Full House_."

"Mom, you _promised_," Leah reminded her.

"Okay, okay, I was kidding," Sam said. "Jeez."

…..

"So I guess the first thing we should do is pick a date, right?" Freddie said later that evening as the couple sat in their bed.

"I dunno, I've never planned a wedding," Sam shrugged.

"Well neither have I," Freddie pointed out. "Look, let's at least get the easy things done tonight, okay? We'll pick a date and a place."

"Fine," Sam agreed. "When do you want to get married?"

"Well," Freddie stared, opening his Pearbook and pulling up his calendar. "We'll want to leave optimal planning time, give everyone enough notice to RSVP, have time for us get the reception organized…I'd say in six months would be good."

"Six months?" Sam exclaimed.

"You think seven would be better?" Freddie asked.

"Come on, Fredward, do we really need six months just to get married?" Sam sighed.

"A wedding's a lot of work," Freddie told her.

"I know," Sam said. "But…I don't know if I want _that _huge of a wedding. I mean, do we really need to plan for that long just to have some people watch us say some things and kiss?"

"You're really making this wedding sound romantic," Freddie smirked.

"I'm serious," Sam said. "I want to marry _you_. I don't need some fancy ceremony in some giant church for that. Can't we just have a small thing? You know, with us and the girls and Carly and your mom and a few other people?"

Freddie smiled. "Is that what you really want?"

Sam nodded. "But if you want to do something bigger…I'll deal with it."

"Sam," Freddie chuckled. "I don't want you to "deal with" anything on your wedding day. It's supposed to be the best day of your life. Of _our _lives. Honestly, I don't care what this wedding is like. Giant ceremony or not, at the end of the day, I just want to end up with you as my wife. I've never exactly been in love with the idea of some over-the-top wedding either."

"Really?" Sam said.

"Really."

Sam laughed and gave him a quick kiss. "I love you so much right now."

"I love you too," Freddie said. "Now let's finish this up so maybe we'll have some time left tonight to do something else…"

"Well…how about this?" Sam said slowly. "There's this really nice gazebo type thing in that park over on 43rd street where I used to take the twins to play when they were little. People rent it out all the time for things. We could maybe rent it out for a small wedding."

"A wedding in the park," Freddie repeated thoughtfully. "I think I like that. We'd have a great background for pictures, plus the fresh air would be great."

"And you're totally okay with it, right?" Sam asked.

"I'm more than okay with it," Freddie said. "And now all we need is a date and we're done with step one of planning. How's March grab you?"

"March?" Sam frowned.

"You're right…it'd still be a little cold," Freddie said. "Maybe we should wait until April. Or May. You know, because April is always so rainy and-"

"Why do we have to wait until then?" Sam asked.

"Huh?"

"Come on, even if we do it in March, that's five months away," Sam pointed out. "I-I sort of don't want to wait that long…"

"You don't?" Freddie asked, a small smile creeping onto his face. "You really can't wait?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Don't make such a big deal out of it, nub. But…no."

"You know," Freddie said. "Since we're having a smaller ceremony, we really _don't _need to wait that long anymore. We could probably have everything ready in a month."

"Whoa there, let's not get crazy," Sam said. "I still have to find a dress and all that chiz. We can do two months."

"Alright, then it looks like we're having ourselves a December wedding," Freddie said. "I guess I'll bundle up."

"We're doing it at the beginning of December though," Sam said firmly.

"Wow, you really can't wait," Freddie chuckled.

"Oh shut up," Sam smirked, hitting his arm playfully. "I just don't want people thinking they can push together wedding and Christmas presents."

"Of course," Freddie said, rolling his eyes. "It has nothing to do with you being so eager to become Mrs. Sam Benson."

"Puckett-Benson," Sam corrected.

"My mistake," Freddie grinned. "Isn't it harder to put the hyphen in your last name though?"

"No," Sam shrugged. "You just go down to city hall and they'll let you change your name to whatever you want. It takes five minutes to fill out the forms."

"How do you know?" Freddie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sam's face faltered a little bit. "Um, I had to have Kira and Leah's last names changed to mine…I didn't want them keeping their father's after he got arrested."

"Oh," Freddie said softly, mentally kicking himself for bringing up the subject. Even though him and Sam had been together for quite some time now, he still didn't know all too much about Kira and Leah's real father. They didn't talk about him at all, and all he had managed to get out of Sam was that he was a deadbeat and in jail since the twins were three. "Sorry. I didn't-"

Sam shook her head as she gave him a quick kiss. "Don't," she said. She sat up and moved to sit on Freddie lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him another, deeper, kiss. "Now…Don't you think we deserve some sort of _reward _for finally getting a date and place picked out for this wedding?"

"What kind of reward were you thinking of?" Freddie asked, running his fingers through her long, blonde hair.

"I'll let you figure that out," Sam said, kissing him passionately.


	3. Chapter 3

"Wow, that meeting went on forever," Freddie said late one night, returning to the apartment.

"Don't complain, you still get to work from home most of the time," Sam pointed out, looking up from her laptop as Freddie gave her a quick peck. "Unlike _some _of us."

"You know you like your job," Freddie grinned.

"Just arresting people," Sam mumbled.

"So what are you up to?" Freddie asked, sitting down next to her.

"Oh, I was just writing down a few names of people to invite to the wedding," Sam said.

"Really?" Freddie replied. "Well that works out nicely, because I happened to be doing the same thing during my ridiculously long meeting."

"Freddie Benson not paying attention at work?" Sam gasped. "What's the world coming to?"

"Let me just see your list," Freddie said, rolling her eyes.

"Fine," Sam said. "Let's see…I have Carly and Spencer, Caleb and his wife, Mrs. Fisher from across the hall, Melanie, my mom, assuming she's allowed back on planes to fly over here, the six of my cousins who are out of jail and the manager from Inside-Out-Burger who always gave me extra fries whenever I ordered there."

"Nice," Freddie said approvingly. "Now who else?"

"Who else?" Sam frowned. "What do you mean? That's everybody."

"Oh," Freddie said quickly. "Oh, well, um, that-that's great then."

"How many people are _you _planning to invite?" Sam asked, crossing her arms.

"Well," Freddie said thoughtfully. "There's my mom, my cousin Stephanie, my Aunt Margaret, my old roommate, Tony, from college, a bunch of guys from my old office back in Seattle, the members from the Technology Enthusiasts club I was in, my old neighbor, my-"

"Well excuse _me _for not being as popular as you," Sam said. "What happened to a _small _wedding?"

"It's still going to be small," Freddie said, putting an arm around her.

"I guess," Sam said, resting her head on his shoulder. "But-"

"Mom?" Leah said suddenly, coming out of her bedroom wearing her pajamas and clutching her stomach. "Mom, I feel sick."

"What?" Sam frowned as Leah collapsed onto the couch next to her. "What's wrong?"

"My stomach," Leah cringed. "It hurts, really bad. It feels like it's on fire."

"Was it maybe something you ate?" Sam asked anxiously. Even though it had been over two years since Leah had been in the hospital with kidney failure, Sam still felt her heart stop every time the girl would even cough.

"No, it doesn't hurt like that," Leah moaned. "It stings. Really badly."

"Stings?" Sam repeated.

"Hold on," Freddie said, gently pushing up Leah's pajama top just enough to reveal her naval. Just as he had predicted, it was bright red and there was a white substance forming around her new belly button ring.

"What the-When did that-?" Sam demanded.

"It must be infected," Freddie said, cutting her off.

"Okay, I'm taking her to the hospital," Sam said, scooping Leah into her arms. "You grab Kira and follow behind us."

"Okay," Freddie nodded as Sam hurried out of the apartment.

_I should've told her_, Freddie thought to himself as he headed back to Kira. _This is all my fault…If anything happens to Leah…God, how could I have been so __**stupid**__?_

…..

"She's going to be fine," a doctor told Sam about an hour later as he flipped through some papers on his clipboard.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked, glancing down at her daughter, who was sitting drowsily in a hospital bed. "She only has one kidney and she's had trouble with infections her whole life and-"

"We know all that," the doctor said kindly, offering her an understanding smile. "And she's still going to be fine. I see this sort of thing all the time; those body shops sometimes simply don't sanitize their equipment correctly. Where did you all go to have this done?"

"I don't know," Sam said, giving Leah a cool glare.

"Well just make sure that next time, you double check with the shop to make sure everything has been cleaned correctly," the doctor told her. "Usually the infections aren't this bad. They'll just make you a bit sore for a few days. But as you said, she does only have one kidney…We gave her some antibiotics and that seems to be doing the trick. I want to keep her overnight to make sure she doesn't have any other reactions, but she should be all set to go home in the morning."

"Good, thank you," Sam sighed.

Sam waited until the doctor had left the room before turning back to Leah. "Are you _kidding _me?"

"All my friends got their bellybuttons pierced," Leah pointed out. "Megan's mom even let her get it done when she was eleven!"

"Oh? Did _Megan's _mom have to spend _eight years _worrying about whether her daughter's kidneys were going to last another day?" Sam snapped.

"I'm fine!" Leah moaned. "I'm not sick anymore. I can get stuff pierced, you know."

"No, you can't!" Sam said. "Especially not behind my back! I swear, this is probably the _stupidest _thing you've ever done!"

"You know," Kira mumbled to Freddie as the two watched the scene from the corner of the room. "It's nice not being on the other end of one of mom's fits."

Freddie said nothing as he continued to let the feeling of guilt flood his body.

"I'm sorry," Leah mumbled, looking down at her lap.

"You better be," Sam said. "I can't believe you, Leah…You just wait until you get out of this hospital. You're going to be grounded for a _long_ time."

"But the school dance is next week!" Leah cried. "Mathew was so close to asking me to go with him!"

"Too bad," Sam said simply, starting towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Freddie asked.

"To grab something from the cafeteria," Sam replied. "Believe it or not, having to rush your kid to the emergency room at one in the morning takes a lot out of you."

Freddie sighed as he got to his feet and followed Sam out of the room.

"Sam-" he started.

"You knew she did that," Sam said, stopping in her tracks. "And you didn't say anything to me?"

"I-I didn't want you to overreact," Freddie said lamely.

"She's in the hospital!" Sam exclaimed. "How am I _supposed _to react?"

"I-I-Okay," Freddie said, defeated. "You're right. This whole thing is my fault."

Sam looked up at him. "Why _didn't _you say anything? Even if it was Kira, who probably wouldn't have wound up in the hospital, bellybutton piercing is kind of something they should be grounded for."

"I know," Freddie said. "It's just-"

"You're afraid to, aren't you?" Sam said knowingly.

"Well I want them to like me!" Freddie defended.

"Pfft, they'll still like you if you don't let them do whatever they want," Sam scoffed. "Trust me, I've been grounding them for years!"

"Oh come on, you're their mom," Freddie said, rolling his eyes. "They _have _to like you. Who am I? Just some dude who happens to be marrying their mom. If I start trying to ground them, they'll hate me!"

"No they won't," Sam said. "And baby…you're not just some guy to them. They love you. You're the closest thing they've ever had to a dad."

"You-You really think so?" Freddie asked.

"I do," Sam nodded. "And I know I don't exactly have first hand knowledge, but I'm _pretty _sure dads don't always just give kids whatever they want…"

Freddie chuckled. "I guess not. It's just still sort of new to me. I mean, I've never really dealt with kids before I met the twins."

"It's not as hard as you think," Sam said, patting his shoulder. "It's even sort of fun sometimes. You know, when they aren't bugging you for money or complaining about a million things."

Freddie laughed. "Okay," he said. "I-I guess I can start working on trying to discipline the girls more."

"There you go," Sam said. "Now come on, let's go grab us some of those fancy hospital pudding cups."


	4. Chapter 4

"Have you decided on sleeves or no sleeves yet?" Carly asked over their web chat a week later. "Personally, I'm a fan of no sleeves, but I _have _seen a few dresses with those really nice lace ones that-"

"Er, honestly Carls, I haven't exactly decided on anything about a dress yet," Sam admitted. "I-I haven't actually started looking yet."

"Sam!" Carly exclaimed.

"Well I've been busy!" Sam defended. "I have work and the twins…and my hatred of dress shops. They don't let you take food in those places, you know."

"Come on, Sam, this is your _wedding _dress," Carly said. "It needs to be perfect."

"Can't I just give you my credit card and have you buy it?" Sam moaned.

"Doesn't work that way," Carly chuckled. "But you know…a bunch of dress stores in Seattle are having huge sales next week because there's some wedding expo coming to town. Why don't you fly over and look here?"

"I dunno," Sam said slowly.

"It will be fun," Carly said. "You and I can go dress shopping!"

"Yeah, but that's a long trip," Sam pointed out. "I'd have to bring the twins and find a hotel and-"

"Please, you don't need a hotel," Carly scoffed. "You know how many people you have to stay with here? Let's see, there's _me_, your mom, Freddie's mom, Spencer-"

"Fine, fine I don't need a hotel," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "But I still can't just jet off to Seattle for a weekend. The girls have school-"

"It's a _weekend _Sam, as in no school," Carly commented.

"Yeah, but-"

"You done with the excuses?" Carly asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sam sighed. "I guess."

"Great!" Carly said happily. "It's all set then. I can't believe it, you're coming home in just one week!"

Sam chose not to burst her friend's bubble and remind her that New York was now her home.

"Yeah, well, now I've got to go book a flight," Sam said. "Taking away my precious wedding planning time-"

"We both know you weren't about to do any wedding planning," Carly said knowingly. "You were probably about to watch reruns of _America Sings_."

"Goodbye, Carls," Sam smiled, closing her computer.

She supposed there were worse things than heading back to her hometown for a weekend. Freddie would be thrilled and as much as she dreaded dress shopping, doing it with Carly was sure to make it slightly less miserable.

"Mom?" Leah said, walking into the living room. Thankfully the doctor had been right in saying that Leah would make a full recovery after the infection scare. She had been released from the hospital a day later and was already back in school. "Mom, I was thinking and I think you were right to ground me. I betrayed your trust by going behind your back and asking Freddie to cover for me. I should've known better and I've learned my lesson."

"Fantastic," Sam said simply, turning on the T.V., knowing there was more coming.

"And since I've reached such a _mature _conclusion all by myself," Leah continued. "Don't you think I should be rewarded by, oh, I don't know, going to the dance tonight?"

"No I do not," Sam answered at once, not looking away from the television.

"Mom! This isn't fair!" Leah moaned. "I need to be at that dance! I was potentially going to get a boyfriend."

"Well that wouldn't do you much good, you can't date yet," Sam replied.

"Ugh!" Leah groaned just as Freddie walked into the apartment.

"Hey, what's going on?" Freddie asked cheerfully, hanging up his jacket.

"Oh nothing, just my mom destroying my life!" Leah said as she turned on her heel and stormed back to her room.

"And that's how you do it," Sam said proudly as she got up to greet Freddie.

"I see…" Freddie nodded. "Now what just happened?"

"Eh, Leah was bugging me to go to the dance," Sam shrugged. "But since she's grounded, _neither _of are going to let her go, right?"

"Um…right," Freddie said.

Sam gave his hand a squeeze. "See? You can be tough too."

"Yeah, sure," Freddie scoffed.

"Well…you'll learn," Sam said. "Anyway, you wanna order some pizza?"

"I could go for that," Freddie replied.

"Cool," Sam said. "Oh, and by the way…you up for a trip to Seattle next weekend?"

"Wait, what?" Freddie frowned. "You want to go to Seattle?"

"Yeah, Carly talked me into going over there with her to go dress shopping," Sam sighed. "I mean, you don't _have _to come…you can always just stay here and-"

"Are you kidding? Of course I want to come!" Freddie said. "I've really missed Seattle. I love it here with you and the girls but I don't think I'll ever get completely used to the city. This is great…my mom can see the twins again! She barely got to meet them the last time you went to Seattle last year. Oh, and we can show the twins where we both grew up! And we can take them to the space needle and-"

"_You _can do all that," Sam said. "Do you _know _what it's like to shop with Carly? I'm gonna be spending my whole weekend in stores."

"Yeah…that's probably true," Freddie said.

"What's for dinner, I'm starving," Kira said, coming out into the room.

"Pizza," Sam replied. Then she frowned. "Hey, you're not grounded. Aren't you going to this dance thing at school?"

"Oh right," Freddie said. "I can give you a ride if you need me to."

"Pfft, like I'd be caught dead at some school dance," Kira said.

"You don't want to go?" Freddie asked.

"No," Kira snapped. "It's just a bunch of kids wearing ugly outfits and dancing around with each other. The food's not even going to be that good. I'd rather stay here and watch T.V. anyway."

"Well I'm sure it would be fun-" Freddie began, but Sam cut him off.

"Okay, well, the pizza should be here in half and hour," Sam said. "I'll call you and Leah when it gets here."

"Alright," Kira said, grabbing a can of soda from the fridge before retreating back to her and Leah's room.

"Huh, I wonder why she doesn't want to go to the dance," Freddie said. "Leah's practically dying to go."

"Dances aren't really here thing," Sam shrugged. "You know she isn't exactly as…_popular _as Leah. I was the same way, remember? The only reason I went to our stupid dances was because Carly forced me to."

"Oh," Freddie said. "Well, I guess that's true. Still, I think she'd have a good time if she went."

"Maybe, but you heard her, she doesn't want to go," Sam said. "No use forcing her. So what do you want on your pizza?"

"Pepperoni's fine," Freddie replied. "Here, why don't I order? I'll get one pizza for me and Leah to share and I'll get you and Kira your usual Triple Meat Slam."

"You really know how to woo me in," Sam said, giving him a quick kiss. "I'm gonna go run and take a quick shower, okay?"

"Your pizza will be awaiting your return," Freddie smiled.

Sam headed into her and Freddie's bedroom. She had just thrown the shoes she had been wearing into the closet and was about to go into the bathroom when suddenly her Pearphone began to ring. She looked down at the screen and saw it was an unfamiliar number.

"Hello?" Sam said, answering.

"Hello, I'm looking for a Samantha Puckett?" the voice on the other end said.

"This is her," Sam said, curious. "Who are you?"

"I'm calling from city hall," the woman said. "I have notice here that you're to be notified when a Marshall Pewter is released from prison."

Sam froze at the mention of her ex-boyfriend and father of her children's name. "W-What? He's being released?"

"In one week from today," the woman told her.

"I-No," Sam said. "No, he-he can't be."

"Ma'am, I'm afraid the release has been finalized already," the woman said. "If you would like, I can assist you in filing a restraining order if you see fit."

"I-I need one for my daughters, not for me," Sam said. "Could I do that?"

"You can certainly come into the office and talk to someone about that, yes," the woman replied. "Can I help you with anything else?"

"N-No," Sam replied softly. She could feel herself shaking.

"Okay, have a great night," the woman said cheerfully, clearly not aware that she had just delivered the news that Sam had been dreading for years.

Sam hung up her phone and slowly sunk onto the bed.

She knew this day would come eventually…Marshall wouldn't stay in jail forever. She had just hoped that maybe if she tried to push him out of her mind, she could pretend that he could. But it looked as though her ex-boyfriend was going to be free once again. She couldn't suppress a shudder.

Would he contact her again? Would he try to contact Leah and Kira?

Leah and Kira…what was she going to tell them? They had only been three when their father had been sent away. And even before then, he had never been a true father for them. Most of the time he was too drunk to even notice them. Sam had told them that he had left when they were younger…what would they say if she told them there was a chance that he would be coming back?

Sam shook her head. No. She wasn't going to let that happen. She was going to make sure of that. She didn't want that man anywhere _near _the twins.

Suddenly she felt a surge of pain from the scar on her left shoulder; the mark of the knife Marshall had used to-

She sat up. She didn't want to think about that night. She had done everything to try and block it out since it happened. She couldn't afford to worry about herself anyway. She knew she could protect herself…She was worried about her daughters. She needed to make sure they stayed safe.

She felt sick to her stomach, like she was about to vomit. She wanted to go back to an hour ago, where her biggest problem was going dress shopping with Carly.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Sam really was sick. She woke up far before she normally would've just to vomit the contents of her stomach up. When she finished, though, she still felt as though she had been punched in the stomach. For one wild moment, she thought maybe last night had just been a nightmare; maybe Marshall was still safely locked up, away from her and the twins.

But unfortunately, that delusion didn't last long.

She hadn't said anything about the phone call from city hall to Freddie or the girls; if she had her way, she'd never have to mention it at all. Things were finally beginning to fall into place for all of them. Her and Freddie were getting married, Kira and Leah were getting along great with him…she didn't want to give Marshall the satisfaction of screwing it up. She checked the time. It was half past six. She knew city hall opened up at seven. If she left now, she could make it down there right when they opened to take out restraining orders for the twins.

She quietly stepped back into the bedroom, not wanting to wake Freddie. She pulled on a pair of jeans and an old sweatshirt and was just about to leave when she heard Freddie stir from the bed.

"Sam?" he said groggily, sitting up. "What time is it? Why are you up?"

"Um, I just have to run out really quick," Sam said, sliding on her shoes.

"Where are you going?" Freddie asked, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.

"I left my wallet in my desk drawer at work," Sam lied. "I'm just gonna go grab it. Hey, why don't I pick up some bagels while I'm out? You like those cinnamon ones from that place by the pet store, right?"

"Um, right," Freddie said, still not completely awake.

"Okay, so just go back to sleep and when you wake up, you'll have some waiting for you," Sam smiled, giving him a quick kiss.

"Okay," Freddie yawned, falling back on his pillow.

Sam sighed a breath of relief before grabbing her keys and rushing out of the apartment.

Thankfully, when Sam pulled into the parking lot of city hall a few moments later, it didn't look too crowded yet.

"Can I help you?" a young receptionist asked promptly when Sam stepped inside.

"Yeah, um, I need to talk to someone about how to get a restraining order…not for me. But I'm just-"

"Third floor, office on the right," the woman replied boredly. "Ask for Byron."

"Cool…Byron, got it," Sam said. She stepped into the nearby elevator, hoping she could get everything taken care of quickly so she could forget this whole thing.

She found the office right when she stepped out of the elevator. The door was open so she didn't bother to knock.

"Hi," Sam said, poking her head into he office. "Um, are you Byron?"

"Yes, how can I help you?" the man sitting at the desk in the room said, looking up.

"I-I need to file two restraining orders," Sam said, sitting down in the chair across from him. "I do that here, right?"

"Well it's not so simple," Byron explained, leaning back in his chair. "You can't just file a restraining order against anybody. You need to have proof that whomever you're filing it against poses a real threat to your life. Do you have that?"

"I'm not filing the restraining order for myself," Sam said, somewhat defensively. "It's for my daughters."

"Well who are you filing the order against?" Byron asked.

"It's their father," Sam told him. "He-He's getting out of jail soon and I don't want him anywhere near them."

"Alright, well, Ms.…"

"Puckett," Sam said. "My name's Sam Puckett."

"Right, well Ms. Puckett, I'm afraid I can't just write you a couple of restraining orders just so your daughters' father can't see them," Byron said. "He needs to pose a real threat to them."

"He doesn't even have custody anymore," Sam said. "He had to give that up when he got arrested ten years ago."

"Well then why are you concerned about him seeing them?"

"Because," Sam sighed. "He-He's dangerous. He may try to do something to the girls just to get back at me for landing him in jail in the first place."

Byron sat up. "Okay, that could be grounds to file a restraining order. Has he been violent in the past?"

"Not to them directly," Sam said. "But, um, that's sort of the reason he's in jail…He-He got really drunk one night and, um, well he stabbed me."

Byron raised an eyebrow. "So shouldn't you be filing for a restraining order for yourself as well?"

"I'm a cop," Sam said quickly. "I can take care of myself. But like I said…I don't want him anywhere near my daughters when he's released. So could you just give me the restraining order for them?"

"Filing a restraining order is a process, Ms. Puckett," Byron said. "You can fill out the appropriate paper work now, but it will have to be reviewed by a judge. That could take another week or so."

"Oh, right," Sam nodded, gripping her bag tightly. She _did _know that. She had helped plenty of victims at work go through this exact same process.

"I'll try to get a rush on them," Byron assured her. "And I'll give you a call once I hear back."

"Okay, thank you," Sam said, taking the forms Byron handed her.

As she filled out all of the information, Sam wondered to herself just how much good a restraining order would do. It was just a sheet of paper, after all. Would Marshall _really _stoop to trying to hurt Kira or Leah? He hadn't tried to contact them during his prison stay. Maybe he wouldn't even give them a second thought when he was released. Like she had said, he never went after the girls when him and her were together…she was usually the subject of his rage. And though she had to admit that she did feel uneasy about that, she'd much rather have it that way.

Once she filled out the forms she returned to her car and drove home, still deep in thought.

"Hey, I thought you were getting bagels," Freddie said as Sam walked back into the apartment.

"Huh?" Sam frowned. 'Oh, they were out."

"They ran out of bagels at the bagel shop?" Freddie said, giving her a strange look.

"They were busy!" Sam said. "Anyway, the girls up?"

"No, it _is _only eight thirty, though," Freddie said. "We usually don't see them until around noon on weekends."

"Oh…right," Sam nodded.

"Hey, you okay?" Freddie asked as he poured two glasses of orange juice.

"Yeah," Sam nodded, perhaps a bit too quickly. "I'm fine."

"You sure?" Freddie said. "Because you seem a bit-"

"Hey, I was thinking," Sam said, cutting him off. "About this Seattle trip…maybe it would be fun for us to stay there a little longer than a weekend."

"Really?" Freddie said. "You want to stay _longer_?"

"Yeah, like, maybe _all _of next week," Sam suggested. "The girls would be fine missing just one week of school; I'll have their teachers email me their missed work. I have a few vacation days at work and you barely go into your office anyway. Besides, I know how excited you are to go back."

"Well yeah," Freddie grinned. "I think that's a great idea. And you know, I was talking with my mom last night after you went to bed and she said we can all stay at her place. Isn't that great?"

"Oh…no," Sam said. "Really? Your _mom's _place? She hates me."

"No, she, er, _disliked _you back in high school, but you've matured since then," Freddie said. "Besides, we're going to be married soon, I don't want to have my wife and mom against each other. This could bring you two a little closer."

Sam sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever. At least Spencer still lives across the hall from her. I can hide out there if I need to."

"That's the spirit," Freddie smiled, pulling her into an embrace. "I can't wait for this trip, Sam. It's going to be amazing."

Sam rested her chin on his shoulder, returning his hug.

_At least now the girls won't be in the state when Marshall's released_, she thought to herself. _At least I can make sure of that._


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey, you guys all packed for tomorrow?" Sam asked, walking into the twins' bedroom.

"Yup," Leah nodded, looking up from her textbook. "I can't wait. We get to go dress shopping!"

"At least one of us is excited," Sam said.

"You don't want to find a dress?" Leah asked.

"Eh, maybe a little," Sam admitted, giving her a small smile. She turned to Kira, who was sitting on her bed, texting on her phone. "Kira? You packed too?"

"Huh? Oh, um, yeah," Kira said, finally looking up.

"Who are you texting? You haven't let go of your phone since you came home," Sam asked.

"Just some friends," Kira replied simply. "Hey, when we're in Seattle tomorrow, Freddie said he'd take us to some old smoothie place you guys used to go to always hang out at. Is it any good?"

"The Groovy Smoothie? Huh, I haven't been there since I was a teenager," Sam said thoughtfully. "Yeah, those were the _best _smoothie. New York may have the market on bagels and pizza and stuff, but I haven't been able to find a decent smoothie joint since I moved here."

"Sweet," Kira grinned.

"Okay, well, Frednub booked us the earliest flight tomorrow," Sam said. "So you two should probably get some rest." She gave them each a quick kiss on top of their heads. "Night."

"G'night," the girls replied, settling in under their covers.

Sam closed their door and headed into the kitchen to the medicine cabinet. She reached for a bottle of nausea medicine. Ever since the news about Marshall, she had been feeling sick; the stress was really eating at her.

"Hey," Freddie said, walking into the apartment as Sam popped two tablets into her mouth.

"Hey, where have you been?" Sam asked.

"Oh, just out," Freddie said brightly, giving her a quick kiss. "Where are the twins?"

"They just went to sleep," Sam said. "And I'm about to too, since _somebody _insisted we take a flight that leaves at five in the morning tomorrow."

"Do you think they fell asleep yet?" Freddie asked.

"I dunno," Sam shrugged. "Why?"

"I-I need to tell you something," Freddie said, his face looking as though he was trying to hold back a smile. "I don't want them to overhear…yet. Come on."

He took her hand and led her into their bedroom.

"What's going on?" Sam asked as Freddie closed the door behind them. "Why are you acting weird?"

"Okay, well you know the other day at the hospital? When you told me that that I'm the closest thing Kira and Leah have ever had to a father?" Freddie said.

"Um…yeah," Sam nodded. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well I was thinking…" Freddie said, taking a deep breath. "I love those two, Sam. Even though I missed so much of their lives, I-I really do think of them as my own daughters sometimes."

Sam smiled. "You do?"

"Of course," Freddie nodded. "You and them…you guys are the best things to ever happen to my life. And that's why I can't wait to be married to you soon. But I really want to make this official. I don't want to just be 'the step-dad' for Kira and Leah. I want them to know that I really do want to be there for them all the time, no matter what. So today…I talked with an adoption lawyer."

"Adoption lawyer?" Sam repeated. "Why?"

"Because," Freddie said slowly. "I-I want to adopt Kira and Leah."

Sam blinked. "You-You what?"

"I want to adopt them," Freddie said again. "I've heard of some couples like us doing it with each other children. I've researched it a lot online and there have been a ton of reports that say it's really the final step in building that family unit."

Sam didn't say anything.

"Obviously you have to agree to it," Freddie continued. "And I wouldn't want to do it if it would make the girls uncomfortable. It's a pretty big step, and I get that you'd probably need to-"

"Freddie," Sam cut him of. "I-I think that's an amazing idea."

Freddie grinned. "You do?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "I'd love for you to actually be legally allowed to call yourself their father. And I know the girls will love for that too. Why don't you talk to them about it in Seattle? You can take them out for dinner or something while Carly and I are shopping."

"You really think they'd want me to do this?" Freddie asked.

"They've gone pretty much their entire lives without a dad," Sam said softly. "If my mom was marrying someone like you when I was their age…I'd be thrilled."

…

"It's still dark outside," Kira yawned, looking out the plane window the next morning. "Wasn't there a later flight we could take?"

"Yeah, there was," Sam mumbled as her and Freddie took their seats in the row behind the twins. "But that wasn't part of the Freddie Benson Travel Plan."

"Come on guys, it's good to start trips early," Freddie said. "Besides, you can always just sleep during this plane ride. Look, Leah's already passed out again."

True enough, Leah had curled up in her plane seat and was fast asleep.

"She can always fall asleep anywhere," Sam said proudly. "The one thing she actually got from me."

"So," Freddie said to Sam as the couple settled in for the flight. "You excited to be going back?"

Sam shrugged. "I guess. I can visit my mom and see Carly. Oh, and Spencer. I can't believe he hasn't gotten to meet the twins yet. The last time we went to Seattle he had to fly off to some big art show and I only got to talk to him for an hour."

"He's seen pictures of them," Freddie pointed out.

"I know," Sam said. "But Kira and Leah are going to love meeting him for themselves."

"It's going to be nice staying at my mom's place too," Freddie said.

"Pfft, that's a matter of opinion," Sam scoffed.

"Baby, please promise me you'll _try _to get along with her," Freddie sighed.

"Why don't you tell that to _her_?"

"I did, last night," Freddie said. "I made her promise that she wouldn't criticize you or try to get you to go with her to any Bacterial Awareness meetings. So as long as you don't start anything, she won't start anything."  
"Yeah, sure, we'll see," Sam said, resting her head against the plane window. She had barely gotten any sleep last night. She kept waking up from the same nightmare of Marshall showing up at her doorstep asking for the twins…

"Sam, are you alright?" Freddie asked.  
"What? I'm fine," Sam mumbled.

"You sure?" Freddie asked slowly. "You've seemed kind of…out of it the past few days."

"It's called having to plan a wedding, Fredward," Sam yawned. "Not exactly a walk in the park. Besides, I'm just tired right now. It _is _five in the morning."

"Oh," Freddie said. "Right. Well you know if you ever feel stressed about the wedding, you can talk to me, right?"

"Sure," Sam said. "Now no offense or anything, Fredwad, but your now taking away even _more _of my sleep time."

"Sorry," Freddie chuckled. He kissed her quickly. "Get some sleep."

Sam closed her eyes, listening as the pilot announced they would be taking flight soon.

_I __**wish **__the wedding was the only thing stressing me out right now_, Sam thought to herself. Tomorrow was Marshall's release date.

_Just let him stay away from the twins_, Sam said to herself. _That's all I want…_

…

"Where is she?" Sam asked as her, Freddie and the twins stepped out of the gate at the airport in Seattle.

"She said she was here," Freddie said. "Maybe she just went to-"

"You guys!" Carly suddenly exclaimed, running over to the four. She threw her arms around Sam. "I'm so glad you're here! And for a whole week now!"

"Yeah, well, I figured we could all use a little vacation," Sam said.

"Wow, it feels good to be back in Seattle," Freddie said as Carly gave him a quick hug. "I don't hear any cab drivers screaming, no weird smoggy smell in the air…"

"Hey girls," Carly said to Kira and Leah. "Wait until you see Seattle. You two didn't really have much of a chance to see anything last time you came."

"Well yeah, we just came to make sure my mom was okay after that lazar hair removal," Sam pointed out. "Speaking of which, I should probably check on her today…She just got liposuction."

"So what should we do first?" Carly asked. "There are two really great dress shops in the mall. Oh, and I found some flower shops and-"

"We need to go drop our stuff off at my mom's place before we do anything," Freddie told her.

"Oh…yay," Sam said, rolling her eyes.

"Sam, you promised," Freddie sighed.

"I'm getting it out of my system!" Sam defended.

"Well we can go dress shopping later today then," Carly said.

"Can I come?" Leah asked. "I've always wanted to go wedding dress shopping!"

"You're so _weird_," Kira said, shaking her head. "Well, while you're doing that, _I _want to go to the space needle and throw paper airplanes off the top."

"Hold up, _you _need to find a bridesmaid dress," Sam said.

"What?" Kira moaned. "Let Leah pick them out. I'm fine with whatever she picks."

"Yeah, well, you and Leah aren't the same size, so you have to get it fitted" Sam said.

"Ugh, how long's _that _gonna take," Kira asked.

"Dress fittings are usually done in half-an-hour," Carly told her. "They just take some measurements."  
"Oh," Kira said. "Well I guess that's not so bad then…"

"See," Leah smiled. "It will be real quick…once we figure out what dress to have fitted for you."

"Be lucky you don't have to go to this," Sam whispered to Freddie. "This is gonna be a _long _afternoon."


	7. Chapter 7

"Here we are!" Freddie said, stepping into the lobby of Bushwell Plaza with Sam and the twins. "The building where we spent the best years of our lives."

"Yeah," Sam said. "I think I spent more hours here than at my own house."

"This is where your mom lives?" Leah asked Freddie.

"Yup, apartment 8D," Freddie nodded. "Come on, I just texted her and told her we'd be up any minute."

"Wouldn't want to keep Crazy waiting…" Sam mumbled, earning her a glare from Freddie.

"Last one," Sam said, smiling and giving him a quick kiss.

The four made their way up the eight flights of stairs, everyone slightly out of breath by the time they reached the corridor.

"_Why _didn't we take the elevator?" Kira gasped.

"We live on the fourteenth floor at home," Sam pointed out. "This should feel like nothing to you."

"We're on _vacation_," Leah pointed out. "We're not supposed to have to use energy."

"Well the elevators here are weird," Sam said. "They take you inside people's actual apartments…I never really understood that."

"Me neither," Freddie said. "But I guess the guy who designed the building thought-"

"No way, no way! They're here!"

The four spun around to see the door across from apartment 8D fly open and a tall man run out and throw his arms around Sam.

"Spencer!" Sam exclaimed happily, hugging him back. "Dude, I've missed you so much!"

"Missed you too, Kiddo," Spencer grinned. He spotted Freddie, smiling as he watched the reunion.

"Fred-O!" Spencer cried, grabbing Freddie's shoulders and pulling him into the group hug. "Here's the other half of my favorite engaged couple. I can't believe you guys are finally back in Seattle!"

"Yeah, well, I guess I couldn't stay away forever," Sam chuckled. "It's not gonna be _all _fun though. I'm staying across the hall, remember."

"Oh right," Spencer grimaced. "Boy, are _you _gonna be stressed."

"Must we talk about my mom like that right in front of her door?" Freddie sighed.

"Oh, Spence!" Sam said, looking over at Kira and Leah, ignoring Freddie's comment. "You can finally meet the twins! Girls, this is Spencer, Carly's brother. Spencer this is Leah and Kira."

"Hey!" Spencer said brightly, shaking each of their hands. "I've heard a lot about you guys."

"Hi," Leah said politely.

"Why are your hands blue?" Kira asked.

"Oh, well, that's actually a funny story," Spencer chuckled. "See, I'm working on this sculpture and I wanted it to be _really _blue, so I decided it would be smarter to use my hands instead of a paint brush!"

Kira and Leah both laughed.

"Man, you haven't changed at all," Sam said. "Hey, do you still have that Bottle-Bot sculpture in there? You _have _to show them that. Oh, and do you-"

"What's this?" came a shrill cry from behind the group.

Sam bit her tongue as her and Freddie turned around to see Mrs. Benson standing at her now-open doorway, glaring, with her hands on her hips.

"Fredward Benson!" Mrs. Benson exclaimed. "I can't believe you've been home for who _knows _how long, loitering in the hallway, without even thinking to pay your poor mother a visit!"

"Mom, we just got here," Freddie sighed. "And we weren't loitering; Spencer just wanted to say hey to everyone. He hasn't seen Sam and me in forever and he just got to meet the twins for the first time, so-"

"I don't want to hear excuses!" Mrs. Benson said, still giving her son a stern look. "I knew moving to New York would do this to you!"

"Clearly I'll be spending a lot of time at _your _place," Sam said to Spencer under her breath.

"Mom," Freddie said, trying hard to remember why he had insisted they stay with her. "Please don't do this. We're all really excited to stay here while we get a lot of the wedding planning done, right Sam?"

"Oh…yeah," Sam said, trying to put even a small amount of enthusiasm in her voice. "So excited…Um, nice to see you again, by the way…it's been _way _too long."

"Well whose fault is that?" Mrs. Benson snapped. "You're the one who made my Freddikins move all the way across the country!"

"Mom, you remember Sam's daughters, right?" Freddie asked quickly before Sam could respond. "Kira and Leah?"

"Um…er, hi," Leah said while Kira continued to stare at the woman.

"Ah yes," Mrs. Benson nodded, ignoring Leah's greeting. "Samantha's children from her _other _relationship. How nice that-"

"Okay, well, these bags aren't going to unpack themselves!" Freddie said just as Sam was about to open her mouth to retort. He picked up the suitcases and quickly let himself into his old childhood apartment.

"Dude, your mom really wants to see me explode, doesn't she?" Sam hissed to Freddie as her and the twins followed him inside.

"I'll talk to her," Freddie promised.

"You better," Sam said. "Or I might just-"

"Alright, girls, you two are going to stay in the guest room here," Freddie said before Sam could finish her sentence. He opened the door and revealed a very old-fashioned bedroom with only a single bed. "Um, I guess you'll have to share the bed…"

"Gross!" both sisters cringed, looking at each other.

"Get over it…that's what I'm doing," Sam said.

"Mom, isn't there a camping bed or something we could bring up from the storage unit to put in here?" Freddie asked as Marissa joined them.

"A camping bed?" she repeated. "You think I would keep something as dangerous as a _camping bed _in my household? Do you know how un-sturdy those bedsprings are? And ticks just flock to those things! And-"

"Alright, alright!" Freddie sighed.

"Oh, speaking of ticks, I have some new anti-tick spray I need to spray everyone with," Marissa announced. "I'll be right back!"

"Freddie, no offense, but your mom's completely psycho," Kira said once Mrs. Benson was out of earshot.

"I-I know," Freddie nodded. "But she means well…usually. Why don't you two start getting settled in? I'll try and talk my mom out of the tick sprays."

"A hotel's looking real good right now, isn't it?" Sam smirked to Freddie as the girls retreated into the guestroom.

"It will be fine," Freddie assured her, giving her a quick kiss. "I promise. Now come on, we're staying in my old room."

"Are the _Galaxy Wars _sheets still there?" Sam grinned.

"No!" Freddie defended.

Sam raised an eyebrow knowingly.

"Well they're _comfy,_" Freddie huffed as Sam laughed.

"You're still the same old nub you were when you lived here, aren't you?" she chuckled.

"Guess so," Freddie agreed.

…..

Getting settled in Freddie's old home wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do. Mrs. Benson's habits of obsessive cleanliness and overbearingness had not died out, and it was taking all Sam had to stay on her best behavior.

"Mom?" Kira said about an hour after the family's arrival as her and Leah walked into Freddie's old bedroom. "We're bored."

"So watch T.V.," Sam said, looking up from her Pearpad.

"Freddie's mom has all of the channels locked," Leah pointed out.

"Oh…I forgot about that," Sam said. "Should've warned you."

"Can't we just stay at a hotel? This lady's insane!" Kira moaned.

"Hey, be nice…_I _have to," Sam told her.

"When are we going to go dress shopping?" Leah asked just as Freddie walked back into the bedroom.

"Um, yeah, about that," Sam sighed. "I know you really wanted to come, Leah, but the dress store where Carly made me an appointment at today has a strict 'no kid' policy."

"I am _not _a kid!" Leah huffed indignantly. "I am a teenager, which is _practically _an adult."

"Sorry, the store's all snobby and stuck up about it," Sam said. "But hey, you know what? I probably won't find anything there anyway. I'm just going to shut Carly up. I promise, I won't buy any dress without you seeing it first."

"Wait, so you're just going to _leave _us here with that nutjob of a woman?" Kira frowned. She looked over at Freddie. "No offense, Freddie."

"Well, considering the fact that I was just fed fruit sauce by her, I really can't say anything," Freddie sighed. "Hey! I have an idea. How about while your mom's out shopping with Carly, you girls and I go grab some lunch?"

"Okay," Leah smiled. "I guess it would be fun to see some of Seattle."

"Yeah, anything beats this place," Kira mumbled. She looked back up at Freddie. "No offense…again."

"There you go, you guys get to go shove your faces with food while I have to go spend hours trying on uncomfortable dresses in stores that only give you _Eucalyptus water_…" Sam said. "Try not to rub it in."

"We'll bring you back some food," Freddie promised. He turned back to the girls. "Why don't you go grab your jackets and then we'll head out of here before my mom tries to make us all wear cloud block."

Sam waited until the girls had left before she gave her fiancé a small smile. "During this lunch thing…are you going to tell them-"

"About the adoption idea?" Freddie finished. "Yeah. I-I think I am. Hopefully they'll be open to it."

"Don't be nervous," Sam assured him, gently squeezing his hand. "It's going to be fine."


	8. Chapter 8

"Sorry about the rain," Freddie said as him and the twins rushed into a nearby diner later that day. "But that's Seattle for you."

"It's okay," Leah said, fixing her hair.

"Hey, after lunch, do you think we could go see the Space Needle?" Kira asked. "I want to throw my gum off the top!"

"Ew," Leah cringed.

"Er, we-we'll see," Freddie said as the three sat down at a table. "Anyway, you girls will love this place. Your mom, Carly and I used to come here all the time when we were kids for their fantastic burgers."

"Sweet," Kira grinned.

"Thanks for taking us out, Freddie," Leah said.

"No problem, I wasn't going to leave you two with my mom," Freddie chuckled. "No one deserves that."

"How did you live with her for eighteen years?" Kira asked.

"Not sure," Freddie said. He took a deep breath, fiddling the edge of his napkin as the twins looked over the menus. "Also, I have been meaning to talk to you both about something important."

"Important?" Leah repeated as her and Kira looked up. "What is it?"

"Is it about mom?" Kira asked.

"No, it's-it's about you guys…and me," Freddie said. "You both know that when I marry your mom in a few weeks, I'll technically be your step-father, right?"

"Sure," Leah nodded.

"We know that," Kira said.

"Good, um, well…see, over the past couple of years, I-I've really started to think of you both as almost my own daughters," Freddie went on. "I love you girls, and I'm really glad you've been a part of my life and will continue to be."

"We love you too," Leah said.

"Well, I-I've been thinking lately," Freddie said. "And-And as honored as I am to about to be your step-father, I-I was thinking it might be sort of nice to, you know, get rid of the 'step' part. Only if you both are completely comfortable with it, of course, and don't think-"

"You mean…you'd be our _actual _dad?" Kira said. "How?"

"I would have to adopt you," Freddie explained. "It's more of just a legal thing…but I thought making everything official might make us all seem more like a family."

"You could _adopt _us?" Leah said slowly. "Really?"

Freddie nodded. "Again, only if you two-"

"I think it's _great_!" Leah exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Kira nodded in agreement. "You're practically our dad now anyway."

"I'm so glad you guys feel this way," Freddie said, grinning widely.

"Of course we do, you're the best!" Leah said, hugging Freddie tightly.

"Thank you, Leah," Freddie said. "That means the world to me."

"Freddie?" Kira asked quietly as Leah pulled away from Freddie. "Do we…do we get to call you 'dad' now?"

Freddie gave her a small smile. "Whatever you're comfortable with."

Kira nodded as she leaned over to give Freddie a hug as well. Then she craned her neck so she could reach his ear.

"I love you, dad."

….

"Well what about the back?" Carly asked as her and Sam looked around the bridal store. "Do you want one that scoops? Or do you want one with lace?"

"I don't know," Sam sighed. "All of these dresses look uncomfortable and frilly."

"You're barely even looking," Carly said, rolling her eyes.

"Well this is boring…and I'm hungry," Sam said.

"We can go get lunch after we finish," Carly said firmly. "Just look around. Listen," she lowered her voice so the nearby sales associate couldn't hear her. "I know you really wanted the girls to come with you today. I tried my best, but they won't anyone under sixteen in here. But you're not here to buy a dress, you know."

"I'm not?" Sam frowned.

"No way, this place is way overpriced," Carly said.

"You spent how much on that tiny purse of yours?" Sam smirked, looking at Carly's handbag.

"That's different!" Carly hissed. "This bag is a one-of-a-kind Luchelle DeMoire! But that's not the point. I brought you here today so you can at least figure out what you want in your dress. Just try on a few things here, and then we'll go out tomorrow with the twins and find almost the same dress for half the price somewhere else."

"Shay…that's pretty crafty of you," Sam said proudly.

"So will you at least start trying on some dresses?"

"Fine," Sam conceded. "I _do _sort of like that one over there…"

"She'll try the Tiffany Monroe gown," Carly said promptly to the sales associate. She turned back to Sam. "She already has all of your sizes. Let's go back to the fitting room so we can start! Oh, this is so exciting!"

"Your dress is in the first dressing room," the sales associate said to the girls. "Follow me, please."

"I'll take pictures of you in all the dresses to show Kira and Leah," Carly said as the two followed the woman. "But don't worry, I won't let Freddie see any of them."

"Why's that matter?" Sam asked.

"The groom can't see the bride's wedding dress until the big day!" Carly exclaimed. "Did you read _any _of the bridal magazines I sent to you?"

"Not really," Sam admitted as she reached her dressing room.

"Do you need any help getting the dress on?" Carly asked.

"Nah, how hard can it be? It's just a dress," Sam shrugged.

Carly shook her head. "You're in for a surprise…Well, I'll be out here when you _do _need me."

"Got it," Sam chuckled.

She stepped into the dressing room where a beautiful white dress was waiting for her.

_It does look nice_, Sam thought. _It probably cost more than my car did, but I guess it looks good…_

She quickly shrugged off her clothes and began to pull the dress on. She soon found out that Carly was right; putting on a wedding dress apparently not a one-woman task. She couldn't reach behind her to close up the back, she didn't know how to deal with the train of the dress and she couldn't even think about how she was supposed to move in the gown.

"Um…Carly!" Sam said loudly. "I think I need help."

"Told you," Carly said triumphantly, letting herself into the room. "Whoa…Sam, you look so pretty!"

"I better, this dress is probably the most uncomfortable thing I've ever put on my body!"

"You'll feel better once you get it on right," Carly assured her. "Here, let me zip you up." She stepped behind Sam and began tugging at the zipper.

"Ow!" Sam snapped indignantly.

"Sorry, but the back won't close," Carly said. "Weird…I think the dress is too small."

"I thought you said they had my size," Sam said.

"They do, and this dress _is _the size I gave them," Carly said. "It just won't fit."

"Lovely," Sam said, rolling her eyes.

"Relax, wedding dresses get marked with the wrong size all the time," Carly said. "This is probably a couple sizes below what it says. I'll just go grab the sales lady and we'll figure it out."

Once Carly left, Sam turned and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had to admit, she did look hot in the dress, even with it unzipped.

Suddenly, she heard her phone ring in her bag. Trying not to trip in the gown, Sam grabbed her phone. She was surprised to see the name of the lawyer, Byron, who she had spoken to back in New York about getting a restraining order for the girls against their father, flashing on her screen.

"Finally," Sam said, breathing a sigh of relief as she answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello, Ms. Puckett?" Byron replied on the other line.

"Yeah, it's me," Sam said. "So did everything work out with the restraining orders? I can't come in to sign them right now, but if you maybe fax them someplace or something, I can sign them so you can get them processed and everything and we can-"

"Ms. Puckett, the restraining orders did not go through," Byron said slowly.

Sam blinked. "What? Why? What was the problem? Their father has no rights to them! It shouldn't be that hard to keep him from seeing them! You said because he was violent in the past that-"

"Please let me explain," Byron cut her off. "I didn't perceive any problems with this because, like you said, their father does not have custody of the girls any longer-"

"Exactly!" Sam exclaimed. "So why is there-"

"The thing is," Byron said heavily. "Mr. Pewter has already submitted an appeal about that. He wants his rights back."

Sam felt her blood run cold. "W-What? He-He can't! He doesn't even get out of jail until tomorrow! How can he-"

"He has a very good lawyer, Ms. Puckett," Byron told her. "Mr. Pewter's appeal claims that his rights were unfairly revoked and that he has been denied seeing his children for the past ten years unrightfully."

"He _stabbed _me," Sam hissed.

"I know," Byron said gently. "But he didn't hurt the girls. He served his time for hurting you, and the appeal states that he'll maintain a set distance from _you-_"

"I don't care if he comes near me!" Sam snapped. "Let him, he knows what will happen! He can't come anywhere close to the girls though!"

"I'm sorry, but legally, he does have a case," Byron told her. "I'm beginning to set up your counter appeal, but as Mr. Pewter does get released tomorrow, I would suggest making sure you and your family leave the city for at least a few days."

"We-We already did," Sam said, her voice now barely a whisper. "Look, how-how likely do you think it is that Marshall will actually get somewhere with this? Tell me the truth."

Sam could hear Byron sigh deeply on the other line. "Honestly…I wouldn't count out him receiving joint custody."

_Joint custody_…Sam heard those words echoing around in her mind. Would Marshall really be permitted to visit the girls on the weekends? To take them every other Christmas? To spend their birthday with them?

Sam slowly hung up the phone. She felt dizzy and disoriented, and she could feel her stomach tightening. She placed a hand on the wall of the dressing room to attempt to balance herself.

This wasn't happening…This couldn't happen! Marshall was dangerous. He didn't want Kira and Leah to start a new life as a better man…He wasn't revenge on Sam. And Sam couldn't even begin to predict what lengths he would go to in order to make that happen.

"Alright, they're going to take a look at the dress," Carly said brightly, coming back into the room. "And then-Sam? Sam! Are you okay? You look sick!"

But Sam could barely hear her best friend's concern as she slowly felt her body numb, and then, everything around her faded into darkness.


	9. Chapter 9

Sam slowly opened her eyes, wincing as the bright overhead lights hit her retinas.

Where was she? What happened? The last thing she remembered was that phone call…That phone call telling her that Marshall was trying to get her daughters back.

And suddenly, Sam felt sick again, and she made to get up, only to realize she had an IV running through the vein of her left arm.

_Why am I in the hospital_? Sam thought to herself, looking around the room and down at the white bed she was laying in.

"Ah, Ms. Puckett, glad to see you're awake," a doctor said, walking into the room.

"What happened to me?" Sam asked, trying to sit up.

"You passed out," the doctor told her gently, placing a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from moving. "In a wedding dress store."

"Oh…" Sam sighed. Now it was coming back to her.

"Yes, you gave your party quite a scare," the doctor continued. "We have the whole group in the waiting room. I'll be sure to tell them you're awake in just a moment."

"Okay," Sam nodded. "But look, I feel fine now and everything, so can I just go and-"

"I'd like to keep you overnight just to make sure you're okay," the doctor told her.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Is that really necessary?"

"Yes."

"Fine," Sam said. At least she would get a break from Mrs. Benson.

"Now, I'd like to discuss something very important with you," the doctor said. "Before I bring anyone else in here."

"What?" Sam frowned.

"Well, we ran a few tests when you arrived here in the ambulance," the doctor began. "To try and see if we could find a reason for your sudden fainting spell."

_Well I just got to worst news of my life, so that might have something to do with it_, Sam thought bitterly to herself.

"It-It was probably just stress," Sam mumbled, looking down at her lap. She didn't want to discuss this with some strange doctor she didn't even know. "I'm getting married, my future mother-in-law is driving me crazy, my best friend won't let up on planning the wedding, I-"

"Stress may have played a factor, but that's not what I want to discuss with you," the doctor said.

Sam blinked. "Then what is it?"

"Well, Ms. Puckett, while we were checking you out, we found out that you are pregnant," the doctor said, his eyes sparking. "Congratulations."

Sam felt those words hit her like a ton of bricks. "I-I-What? I'm _pregnant_?"

"Yes, about six weeks along, in fact," the doctor nodded.

Sam could feel her heart racing as she slowly took in this news. She was pregnant? With Freddie's child?

She had a flashback to when she found out she was pregnant with the twins…Marshall had thrown a fit.

But Freddie wouldn't do that. Freddie would be excited. He desperately wanted to have a family with her, which is why he wanted to adopt the girls, and now they were going to have their own baby together as well.

And for a few fleeting seconds, Sam felt…happy. She was having another baby! She'd get to be a mother all over again!

But then, she remembered the news that had gotten her to this hospital bed in the first place, and she felt the spark inside of her fade away. She placed a hand on her abdomen. Would Marshall do something to hurt this child, just spite her further? She suddenly felt very afraid and vulnerable.

"Would you like me to go collect your visitors now?" the doctor asked.

"Y-Yeah," Sam nodded. "But, um, can you send in Freddie Benson first? He's the father, and I-I sort of want to tell him alone."

"Of course," the doctor replied. "I'll be back with him in a moment."

_I need to tell him about Marshall_, Sam thought to herself as she nervously fidgeted with the end of her blanket. _I can't hide it from him anymore. _

She looked out the small window next to her bedside. She wondered how Freddie would take it. She just hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid…

"Sam!" Freddie burst through the door and rushed over to her. "Oh my God, are you okay? Carly called me and I came over here with the girls as soon as I could. What happened? Are you okay?"

"I-I passed out," Sam mumbled as Freddie hugged her. "Baby, I'm fine."

"I was so worried," Freddie said.

"Dude, chill, it was probably just from all the stress," Sam told him. She took his hand and squeezed it. "I have to tell you something important though."

"What is it?" Freddie asked.

Sam took a deep breath. "I-I just found out…I'm pregnant."  
Freddie blinked. "You-You're what?"

"Pregnant," Sam repeated. "We-We're going to have a baby."

"Oh my God…" Freddie breathed as he threw his arms around her again, a huge grin breaking out over his face. "Oh my God, Sam! Sam, this is-this is _amazing_! More than amazing! We-We're going to have a _baby_! We're really going to be a family. Especially since…well, the girls said yes."

"What?" Sam asked, confused.

"They said yes to me adopting them," Freddie said, looking like the happiest man on earth. "Can you believe it?"

"Of course I can," Sam said softly. "They love you. I told you that there was nothing for you to worry about."

"I just can't believe how lucky we are," Freddie said, kissing her. "Kira and Leah will officially be able to call me dad, and now you and I are going to have another child to take care of and see grow up together. I-I can't think of anything I've ever wanted more in my life."

Sam plastered on a smile. She wished she could be as thrilled as Freddie was right now. But she knew everything was far from having a happy ending.

"Freddie," Sam sighed. "I-There's something-"

"I don't know how I managed to get this lucky," Freddie said softly, kissing her again. "You've really made me the happiest man in the world, you know that?"

_I can't tell him now_, Sam thought miserably, biting the corner of her lip. _He's too excited. I don't want to crush his joy_.

Suddenly, the door of Sam's room flew open and the twins came running in, Carly at there heels.

"Sorry," Carly said as Kira and Leah ran to their mom. "They were getting to impatient in the hospital room."

"It's okay," Sam chuckled as she hugged both her daughters.

"What happened?" Leah asked.

"Yeah, those stupid doctors just told us you passed out," Kira nodded. "It was the wedding dress place, wasn't it? It was probably all the gross perfume they have there."

"No, it-it wasn't the wedding dress store," Sam said slowly. She looked at Freddie. He looked positively bursting, and Sam knew he wouldn't be able to keep the news a secret any longer. "I'm pregnant."

"What?" Kira and Leah exclaimed simultaneously.

"No way!" Carly gasped.

"That's right," Freddie said, putting his arm around Sam. "We're going to have a baby."

"Whoa…this is so great!" Leah said. "I can finally have a baby brother or sister! I've been dreaming of this for years!"

"You do realize you _have _a sister," Kira said, elbowing Leah in the ribs.

"Yeah, but you're kind of mean," Leah said jokingly.

"Well hopefully this sibling won't hog the bathroom," Kira said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm so happy for you guys," Carly said to Sam and Freddie. "Now normally a pregnancy so close to the wedding throws a wrench into all the planning, but I don't think there's any problem here. The wedding's so close that Sam should still be fit into any wedding dress she wants."

"Thank goodness for _that_," Sam said, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Hey, baby? Is there anything you need?" Freddie asked. "Something to drink? To eat? Are you comfortable enough? I can go try and get you some more pillows and-"

"Fredwad, relax," Sam said, giving him an assuring smile. "I'm fine. Although…I guess I wouldn't say no to some food."

"I'll go see what the cafeteria has," Freddie said, quickly getting to his feet. He gave her one last kiss before turning to head out the door.

Sam watched him leave, a definite spring in his step.

_I have to tell him eventually_, Sam thought sadly. _Just not now_.


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning, Sam was released from the hospital. Carly had agreed that she could take the day off from wedding dress shopping, though Sam knew it was only a matter of time before she came over with a stack of catalogues.

"Do you know the number of a good doctor you can start going to in New York?" Freddie asked as him and Sam sat in his old bedroom at his mom's apartment. "Did you like the doctor you went to when you were pregnant with the twins? Do you still have that number?"

Sam didn't respond. She was sitting on Freddie's old bed as Freddie bounced around the room like an eager child.

"And maybe we should start looking for a bigger place, too," Freddie continued. "The apartment's going to be way too cramped with five people living in it. We can start going through ads when we get back home."

"Freddie," Sam sighed. "Freddie, I have to-"

"Oh, and I hope you don't mind, I think it's best not to mention this to my mom until after the wedding," Freddie went on. "I mean, she's always wanted a grandchild, but getting one out of wedlock might waz her out a little, and I'd rather not deal with that if we could avoid it."

"Freddie," Sam said again. "Listen, I need to talk to you about-"

"And we'll have to start researching top-notch preschools right away," Freddie said, clearly not hearing his fiancé. "I hear you need to get a spot on a waiting list before you even have the kid nowadays. Crazy, right? And we should-"

"Freddie!" Sam said loudly, finally causing him to fall silent. "Stop, okay? I-I need to talk to you."

"What is it?" Freddie asked, his voice full of concern as he sat down next to her. "Do you not feel well? Should we get you back to the hospital?"

"No," Sam said softly. "No, it's not that."

"Then what's wrong?" Freddie asked. "Talk to me."

Marshall was always a subject Sam avoided bringing up at all costs. She had never sat down and told anyone the full story about their relationship, or what had happened between them. But now she didn't have a choice.

She took a deep breath. "You-You know about my ex-boyfriend," she said shakily. "The girls' father?"

Freddie frowned. "I mean, I know _of _him. You-You've never really mentioned him before. I know you don't like to bring him up. Er, why _are _you bringing him up?"

"He's been in jail for the past ten years, I've told you that," Sam said quietly. "I think the girls figured that out too. I don't know. I've only told them that he left, but, well, they're smart. But anyway, the reason he was in jail was because…he got really drunk one night…it was the night I found out Leah was sick. He came home and he tried to get me to sleep with him. But I told him to get lost…and he started yelling, and I yelled back and then-then he stabbed me."

"He-He _what_?" Freddie exclaimed. Anger boiled up inside of him. How dare _anyone _lay his hands on Sam? _His _Sam.

"Shh," Sam said. "Anyway, he got arrested for that. I made sure he had to give up all custodial rights to Kira and Leah. The only time I've had any contact with him since then is when I went through his parole officer to see if he could get tested to see if his kidney was a match for Leah. He only did _that _after he was promised a reduced sentence time if he was. Obviously he wasn't."

Freddie's eyes slowly traveled down to Sam's shoulder, where the faint scar of that night remained.

"You didn't get that from work, did you?" he said softly.

Sam shook her head. "No."

"Sam," Freddie breathed, pulling her close to him. "I-I'm sorry you had to go through that. I really am. Believe me, if I ever had the chance to get my hands on that guy…But that's all done now. We're going to be married in less than a month. We're going to have a _baby_. All that is in the past now."

"No," Sam said shakily, squeezing her eyes shut. "No, it's not. Freddie, Marshall's getting released from prison. In fact…today was his release date."

Freddie stared at her. He had never seen Sam like this. She looked positively terrified.

"I found out a week ago," Sam continued. "And-And I went to the courthouse, to make sure that when he got out, he couldn't touch the girls again. But-But he's already filing for his parental rights back. I know he doesn't care about the girls. He's doing this because he knows it will kill me."

"He-He can't do that, can he?" Freddie asked.

"He must have one good lawyer," Sam mumbled. "I just don't know what he's going to do. Marshall he's…he's very good at getting what he wants. But he's dangerous. I'm afraid he'll do something to Kira and Leah. Or-Or once he finds out I'm pregnant…Oh, God, I don't know."

"It's going to be okay," Freddie said, but only because he knew that's what he was supposed to say. In all honesty, he didn't know what to do. Sam was the toughest person he knew. If somebody could get her this worked up…

"I won't let him hurt the girls," Freddie said firmly. "Or the baby. Or you. I promise."

"You don't know Marshall, Freddie," Sam sniffed.

"But I do know that you guys are the most important things in my life," Freddie said. "And I'll do whatever I have to in order to protect you."

…


	11. Chapter 11

"I think something pink would work for the bridesmaid dresses," Carly said the next day, looking around the racks at the sixth store they had been in. "That color would look nice on the girls."

"I already promised Kira no pink," Sam said. "I think purple was the only color they could agree on."

"Okay," Carly said. "Purple it is then. The girls are in the back of the store and I think they found a few styles they like, I'll go see if I can find them in purple. In the meantime, take a look at those wedding dresses."

"Alright," Sam sighed.

Her heart really wasn't in this shopping trip. But the girls needed to get their dresses, and between Leah and Carly, she knew she wasn't going to get a moment's rest until she went.

"Have you found anything yet?" Leah asked suddenly, coming over to Sam.

"No, not yet," Sam replied. "And I though you were with Kira looking for bridesmaid dresses."

"We found the one we like," Leah replied. "Carly's with Kira now getting our sizes. Can I help you look?"

"Sure," Sam smiled. "Nothing to frilly though, okay?"

"Okay," Leah nodded. She began looking through the dresses.

"So," Sam said, cringing at the site of a white dress made entirely out of lace. "You and Kira excited for the new baby?"

"Yeah," Leah grinned. "But I don't want to share a room with it though. Kira's bad enough."

"We're probably going to have to move," Sam told her. "Locally, though, so don't worry about having to switch schools or anything. We just need a bigger place. We've had that apartment since you were two; it's time for a change."

"I'll miss it, though," Leah said, pulling out a dress. "What about this one?"

"Nah, I don't like all the ribbon," Sam said. "And…you know even when this baby comes and everything, I'm still going to love you and Kira just as much as I've always have. That's not going to change."

"I know," Leah said. "I'm happy for you and Freddie."

"Freddie told me your two were excited about him adopting you guys," Sam said, pulling another dress off the rack. "You like this one?"

"It has a weird neckline," Leah cringed. "But, yeah. It's gonna be cool having Freddie as my dad. I think Kira almost cried…I should've taken a picture."

"I'm glad you guys are finally going to have a dad in your life," Sam said. "I know growing up without one isn't any fun."

Leah shrugged. "You still did pretty good."

"Thanks," Sam chuckled.

"Maybe we should try another store," Leah suggested. "This place doesn't have that big of a selection."

"Ugh, I just want to get this done with," Sam moaned. "We've been out shopping for-"

"Mom!" Leah suddenly gasped, pulling a beautiful dress off the rack. "This one's perfect for you! Get this one!"

"You know what?" Sam said slowly, looking over the dress as she took it from her daughter. "This one might work."

…

Freddie sat in his old living room, staring at his laptop screen. Sam and the twins were out dress shopping and his mom had gone to her therapist, so he was on his own for the afternoon.

What Sam had told him earlier that day was still circling around in his head. He had always figured Sam's relationship with the girls' father had ended on bad terms, since he obviously was no longer involved in their lives. He knew he was in jail too, but the one time he had asked why, over a year ago, Sam had tensed up and told him she didn't want to talk about. And he had respected that.

He had never thought Sam's past was anything like this, though. And now with her ex getting out of jail…He really hoped Sam would be able to handle it.

_I'll protect her_, Freddie told himself. But then he scoffed. How was he going to protect Sam? He wasn't strong. He couldn't fight, and he certainly lacked the intimidation factor.

_But I love her_, he reminded himself. _And I'd do anything to avoid losing her_.

This was supposed to be a happy time, yet he felt weighed down by emotions. Him and Sam were going to be married, they were going to have a child together and he was going to adopt the twins…or who knew now, maybe with the twins' father trying to get custody again, his hopes about that would be thrown away too.

He heard a knock on the door, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Come in!" he called.

"Hey," Spencer said, letting himself in. "I saw your mom leave a few minutes ago so I figured it was safe to come over."

Freddie chuckled. "What's up?"

"Just wanted to stop by," Spencer said. "So, I heard the news…congratulations, dude! You're gonna be a daddy!"

"Yeah," Freddie smiled. "I am."

"You excited?"

"Of course," Freddie said. "I've always wanted to have kids."

Spencer gave Freddie a strange look. "You okay, Fred-O?"

"Huh?" Freddie frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You just seem a little…preoccupied," Spencer said. "Everything going okay with this wedding?"

"Yeah, yeah, you know, just a lot of stress, that's all," Freddie said, hoping he sounded convincing.

"Yeah, weddings are always stressful," Spencer said. "But just think, it's all worth it in the end."

"I know," Freddie nodded.

"Hey," Spencer said. "Let's do something to get your mind off of everything. You still know how to fence?"

"Fencing?" Freddie repeated. "You want to fence?"

"Sure, why not," Spencer replied. "Ever since you moved to New York, I lost my only opponent."

"Well okay," Freddie laughed. "I might be a little rusty, though…you might actually have a shot at beating me."

"Hey!"

…

"I can't believe you _finally _found a dress," Carly said as the party walked down the streets of Seattle.

"Yeah, after only five million hours," Kira said as she chewed on the beef jerky Sam had bought her and herself.

"I can't wait to wear those bridesmaid dresses," Leah said excitedly.

"I'm glad you found one you and Kira actually agreed on," Sam said. "Anyway, I'm starving. Can we go grab dinner or something?"

"There's that pizza place we used to go to when we were kids down the street from here," Carly said. "Want to go there?"  
"I could go for some pizza," Kira said.

"Me too," Leah nodded.

"Good, then let's eat," Sam said. "I think these pregnancy cravings are just about kicking in. Think I can get maple syrup on my pizza?"

"That _may _not be on the menu," Carly grinned.

The four walked down to the restaurant, and just as they were all about to enter, Sam's phone began to ring.

"Who is it?" Carly asked.

"I dunno, some New York number," Sam replied, looking at her phone. "It's probably someone from work. Just give me a minute and I'll meet you inside."

"Okay," Carly nodded. Her and the girls entered the restaurant as Sam answered her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Ms. Puckett?" said the voice on the other line.

"Yes," Sam said slowly.

"I'm a representative from the Motonson Law Firm," the woman said. "I'm calling on Mr. Motonson's behalf to tell you that he's going to need to see you in court on the second of January to discuss the custodial rights of Leah Beth Puckett and Kira Danielle Puckett."

"What?" Sam frowned.

"Yes, Mr. Motonson is representing a Marshall Pewter, who says that his rights to the girls have been unfairly-"

"He has _no _rights to them, and he's not going to _get _any!" Sam snapped.

"Unfortunately, ma'am, that is for the courts to decide," the woman said simply. "As I said, your court date is January second at ten in the morning. Failure to show up will result in you being held in contempt. Have a nice day."

"Wait, you can't just-" Sam started, but the woman had already hung up.

Sam slowly slid her phone back into her pocket.

It had begun.


	12. Chapter 12

"Mom finally found her wedding dress, Freddie!" Leah said excitedly as Sam, Carly and the twins entered the old Benson apartment.

"Really?" Freddie grinned.

"It's beautiful," Carly said, taking off her coat. "She looked stunning in it."

"Can't wait to see you in it then," Freddie said, getting up to give Sam a kiss.

Sam smiled, but as she turned to kick off her shoes, Freddie noticed something off about her.

"Whoa, cool!" Kira said, looking at Freddie's fencing equipment, which was still by the front door. "What is all this?"

"Oh, that's my fencing gear," Freddie explained. "Spencer came by and the two of us went to the gym and had a few matches."

"Fencing?" Leah frowned. "That weird sport with the swords?"

"That's the one," Freddie chuckled.

"I didn't know you fenced," Kira said.

"Oh yeah, him and my brother used to be obnoxious with that," Carly said, rolling her eyes.

"It's the only sport you were ever good at, baby," Sam said playfully.

"Is it hard?" Kira asked.

"Not once you get the hang of it," Freddie said. "If you want, when we get back to New York, I can teach you."

"Really?" Kira said. "Can you?"

"I want to too!" Leah said.

"Sure," Freddie nodded. "It will be fun."

He looked over at Sam and saw she was heading into the kitchen.

"I'll be right back," Freddie said. He followed his fiancé, hoping she was okay.

"Anything bothering you?" Freddie asked as Sam took a bottle of water from the fridge.

Sam didn't reply right away. She took a few sips of her drink first before opening her mouth.

"If you teach the girls to fence, make sure you don't get too competitive with Leah," Sam said, looking out the window. "She needs to watch her physical activity, remember? And Kira hates it when people let her win at things, so whatever you do, don't do that."

"Okay," Freddie said gently. "But…is that really all that's on your mind?"  
Sam sighed as shook her head.

"Marshall's lawyer's office called me while we were out," she told Freddie. "A court date has already been set up about the custody arrangement."

"Are you-Are you serious?" Freddie frowned.

"If I don't show up, I'll just get put in contempt," Sam said. "So I can't get out of this…I guess I need to find my own lawyer. I have a few contacts from work I can try."

"When's the court date?" Freddie asked slowly.

"Day after New Years," Sam replied grimly. "Just about a month away…I know the law, though. He still can't have any contact with the twins, not unless he winds up getting awarded custody…which he _won't. _If he goes near them, he'll just get himself in trouble, which works for us. But he's too smart for that…"

Freddie didn't know what to say.

"Still," Sam said. "I don't want the twins to be by themselves at all in New York. I'll drive them to school and drop them off on my way to work, you'll pick them up. They aren't allowed to go out with their friends unless there's an adult there, okay?"

"Okay," Freddie nodded. "Are you going to talk to the girls, though?"

"I don't want to," Sam mumbled. "I try to keep him out of their lives as much as possible…but if it reaches a point…I know I'll have to. I just hope we don't get there."

"I hope we don't too," Freddie said, stepping over to her and wrapping his arms around her.

…

Sam, Freddie and the twins returned to New York about a week later. Now that Sam's dress was picked out and most of the other final plans had been made, the wedding seemed closer than ever.

"Okay girls, get to bed," Sam yawned as they entered their apartment. "You have school in the morning."

"I can't believe our plane got delayed four hours," Freddie said as Sam dropped her suitcase by the front door. "It's almost one in the morning now."

"I know, and I have to be at work in seven hours," Sam said.

"Er, Sam?" Freddie said as she started towards their bedroom.

"Yeah?"

"Um…not to sound controlling or anything," Freddie started. "But, um, don't you think maybe going back to your job as a cop where you run around with guns and criminals and all sorts of other chaos might be a little too, you know, dangerous with you being pregnant and all?"

Sam laughed and rolled her eyes. "Calm down, I'm obviously not gonna go back out into the field. I talked to my boss a few nights ago and I'm already assigned desk duty for my entire pregnancy."

"Oh," Freddie said. "Right, well, um, okay then. Sorry, I should've known you already handled it."

Sam smirked as she walked back over and kissed him. "You coming to bed?"

"In a little bit," Freddie replied. "I have some work I need to have in by the end of the week I should get started on."

"Okay, good night," Sam said.

"Night, love you," Freddie said.

Sam turned and headed to their bedroom, closing the door behind her. She kicked off her shoes as she pulled out her cell phone, quickly dialing.

"Hello?" said a voice on the other line.

"Hey, Caleb," Sam greeted her partner. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, Vivian and I decided to go out tonight and we're just getting back," Caleb replied. "So I'm guessing you finally made it home then?"

"Yeah, I just got back too," Sam said.

"Good," Caleb said. "Glad to have you back. I've been partnered with that transfer from robbery while you were gone and I can't stand the guy."

"Um, you may be with him a little while longer," Sam told him.

"What? You're not coming in tomorrow?"

"No, I am," Sam said. "But I'll be on desk duty for a _long _time. I'm sort of pregnant."

"Whoa! No way!" Caleb exclaimed. "Congratulations! Hey, tell Freddie I said the same."

"I will," Sam said. "But, um, there's something I really need to talk to you about. You remember Marshall?"

"Marshall?" Caleb said slowly. "You don't mean-Not the girls father?"

"Yes, him," Sam sighed. "He's been released."

"You're kidding," Caleb said heavily. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, it's Kira and Leah I'm worried about," Sam said quickly. "He's already filed to regain his custodial rights for them and I need to be in court right after New Years to make sure that doesn't happen. You know a bunch of lawyers, can you hook me up?"

"Y-Yeah, of course," Caleb said.

"Fine me the best one," Sam said. "Money's not a problem."

"Okay," Caleb assured her. "I'll have a number for you by the morning."

"Thanks," Sam said. "I owe you one."


	13. Chapter 13

"Kira! Leah! Let's go!" Sam yelled for the fifth time the next morning. "You're going to make me late!"

"Why can't we just take the bus?" Leah yawned, coming into the kitchen and grabbing the piece of toast Sam handed her.

"Every day all I hear you and your sister do is complain about the bus," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "And now I'm offering to drive you guys to school and you give me a hard time?"

"Mom, I need ten dollars," Kira said, joining her mom and sister in the kitchen.

"For?" Sam frowned.

"The basketball team is going out for pizza after practice today," Kira explained. "So I also won't be home for dinner."

"Uh-huh…and is your _coach _going to be there with you?" Sam asked.

"No, it's just me, Riley and Vanessa," Kira told her.

"So no adults then?"

"No?" Kira said, giving her a strange look.

"Then you're not going," Sam said simply. "Sorry."

"What? Why?" Kira exclaimed.

"Yeah, she finally got invited to do something with people," Leah smirked.

"Because I don't want you running around New York with no one watching you," Sam said, ignoring Leah's comment.

"I've done it a million times before!" Kira pointed out.

"Yeah, well I was wrong to let you," Sam said, handing the girls their lunches.

"This is so unfair!" Kira moaned, grabbing her lunch from her mother. "You let Leah go out with her dumb cheerleader friends all the time by herself!"

"Well starting now, Leah's little group also better have an adult with it if she wants to hang out with them after school," Sam said.

"_What_?" Leah cried. "Mom, we're thirteen. No one goes out with their parents anymore!"

"Well then that's too bad for you, isn't it?" Sam said. "Now come on, I have to be at the doctor's in an hour before I go into work."

"Have these pregnancy hormones made you loopy or something?" Kira mumbled.

"Watch it," Sam said firmly, grabbing her car keys.

….

"Sorry I'm late," Freddie said later that morning, rushing into the doctor's office, where Sam was already sitting on the table, changed into a paper gown. "Did I miss it?"

"No, the doctor's going to get the gel stuff to put on my stomach," Sam said, giving him a quick kiss. "How was your meeting?"

"Fine, short," Freddie said. "But don't worry about that now. I can't believe we're actually going to get to see our child today."

"Yeah, at least I'll get to see one kid mad at me today," Sam sighed.

"The twins are mad at you?"

"Yeah, because I'm not letting them out by themselves," Sam mumbled.

"Hey, you're doing what's best for them," Freddie said, rubbing her shoulder. "They just don't understand everything right now."

"Well hopefully I'll get everything sorted out in court next month," Sam sighed as the office door opened again and the doctor returned.

"Alright, good to see everyone's here," the doctor said, stepping over to the monitor next to Sam. "Are we ready to see this little one?"

"Definitely," Freddie smiled, taking Sam's hand as the doctor began to spread the gel on her stomach.

"Ugh, it's cold," Sam cringed.

"So when can we know if it's a boy or a girl?" Freddie asked.

"At her next appointment," the doctor answered.

"Which are you hoping for?" Sam asked as the doctor began to fiddle with the machine.

"I'm fine with either," Freddie said. "As long as he or she is healthy. What about you?"

"Same," Sam shrugged. "But I guess it would be nice to see what it's like raising a boy this time."

"Okay, I think I just about have it…" the doctor said, and Sam and Freddie looked over at the screen. "Yup, here it is. This is your baby."

Sam and Freddie stared at the screen where a small, peanut-shaped figure was now shown.

"Wow," Freddie breathed. "Wow, that's-that's really it?"

"It is," the doctor smiled. "I'll give you two a moment."

"Doesn't look too much like a baby," Sam commented. "When I came for my first ultrasound with Kira and Leah, it took me ten minutes to see what the doctor was showing me."

"That's really our baby, Sam," Freddie said, smiling up at his fiancé.

"Yes, Fredward, I can see," Sam said, rolling her eyes at his sappiness.

"I've just never seen anything like this," Freddie said. "I can't wait for this baby, Sam."

Sam looked from Freddie to the screen showing her unborn child.

Even with everything happening in her life right now, this was one moment that wasn't going to be taken away from her. Sitting here with Freddie in this office, getting the first look at the life they had created together…she wouldn't trade it for the world.


	14. Chapter 14

"Welcome back," Caleb said later that day as Sam walked into work. "You have a mountain of paper work waiting for you on your desk."

"Fantastic," Sam said dryly.

"How was the doctor?"

"Good," Sam said, sitting down at her desk. "Freddie got all emotional."

"He saw his kid for the first time, how do you expect the guy to act?" Caleb pointed out.

"I should've seen it coming, he was always overly mushy, even in high school," Sam said.

"You're marrying the guy, you obviously don't mind it too much," Caleb said.

"Eh, guess it could be worse," Sam grinned.

"Anyway," Caleb said, sitting down on the edge of her desk. He lowered his voice. "I got you the number of the best lawyer I know. His name is Theodore Breslin. He's dealt with all sorts of custody cases, and he's had an amazing success rate."

"Thanks," Sam said, taking the number from him.

"He has a busy schedule, so call as soon as you can," Caleb advised her.

"I will," Sam told him. "I just hope this guy can match Marshall's lawyer, because it looks like that guy really knows what he's doing."

…..

"I can't believe my mom," Kira fumed as she threw her gym bag into Freddie car after basketball practice that day. "All my friends get to go out and get dinner together, and I can't because she's suddenly gone all crazy."

"Come on," Freddie sighed. "Your mom just wants to make sure you stay safe."

"But she's being totally unfair, I should be allowed to go out when all the other kids are," Kira mumbled darkly.

Freddie chose to ignore this comment. "So where's your sister? Your practices always finish up at the same time."

"She's still talking with her friends in the gym," Kira said. "Hey…Freddie? Um, the pizza place is just around the corner from here. Do you think you could _maybe _drop me off there and just tell my mom my coach had to work with me after practice and I'll have one of my friends' moms drive me back home?"

Freddie bit the corner of his mouth. Sam would absolutely lose it if he allowed either of the twins to go off on their own right now. But he also didn't want to fight with Kira, especially so close to the wedding and after he had brought up the adoption to her.

"Well, Kira," Freddie started. "Your-Your mom was pretty serious when she said-"

"She's just being overprotective and crazy," Kira said.

Freddie chuckled. "Hey, you've met my mom, remember? Trust me, you haven't even seen crazy and overprotective."

Just then the car door opened again, and Leah slid in.

"I can't believe mom picked tonight to go all wacko on us," Leah groaned. "Two cute soccer players invited me and my friend out for pizza, and I had to say I couldn't go. This is so unfair!"

Freddie sighed, looking back at the two girls, both looking out the window miserably.

"Okay," he said. "Leah? Are your friends getting pizza at the same place Kira's friends are?"

"Yeah," Leah nodded slowly.

"Alright," Freddie said. "Here's what we can do. I will take you guys to the pizza place-"

"No way!" Kira exclaimed, perking up.

"You're the best!" Leah beamed.

"_But_," Freddie continued. "I'm going in with you, and I'm staying until you both finish, and then I'll take you home. I'll sit in a corner so you won't have to be seen with an _adult_, but I can't let you be there by yourself. Deal?"

"Deal," the twins grinned.

…

Freddie brought the girls home later that night, both of them much happier than they had been when they had gotten into his car.

When they entered the apartment, Sam was pacing back and forth in the living room, talking on her phone. She looked over as the three walked in.

"Hey, sorry we're late," Freddie said. "I just-"

Sam held up a finger to tell him to hold on as she retreated into their bedroom.

"You guys should get started on your homework," Freddie said to Kira and Leah.

"Alright," Leah nodded, setting down her backpack at the kitchen table with Kira.

Freddie started towards the bedroom, but Sam was already out.

"Where'd you guys go?" Sam asked, sliding her phone back into her pocket as she came into the living room.

"Um, well," Freddie started. "I-I let the girls go out to pizza with their friends, but-"

"You _what_?" Sam hissed. "I told you they weren't allowed out by themselves anymore!"

"I went with them," Freddie said quickly. "They went to that pizza place buy the school, and I sat at my own table while they ate with their friends. I could see them the entire time."  
Sam rolled her eyes. "They guilt you into that?"

"No…"

"Dude, I thought you were going to work on saying _no_ to them," Sam smirked.

"I know," Freddie sighed. "But I just-"

"You know they're not gonna hate you if you don't give them whatever they want," Sam said. She gave him a quick kiss. "Anyway, I was just on the phone with Theodore Breslin."

"Who?"

"He's a lawyer Caleb knows," Sam explained, lowering her voice. "He's going to work with me on this whole custody thing. He's one of the best lawyers in the city."

"Good," Freddie said. "He'll get everything worked out then."

"Hopefully," Sam shrugged. "When I was talking to him, he said there should be no problems, considering what Marshall was in jail for, but he also said that these sort of cases always get thrown through the wringer, so to be prepared for that."

"Thrown through the wringer how?" Freddie frowned.

"Who knows," Sam said heavily. "I have a meeting with the guy on Friday, so I'll ask him then."

"You want me to come with you?"  
Sam shook her head. "Nah, it's fine. I'll just go on my own."

"You sure?" Freddie asked. "It might be good for you to have someone with you."

"I'm just talking with the guy for twenty minutes, tops," Sam assured him, heading into the kitchen, where the girls were starting their homework. "It's no big deal."

Freddie knew better than to bring the issue up further in front of the girls, so he swallowed his comment as Sam began rifling through the drawers of the counter.

"What are you looking for?" Leah asked.

"That deliver number for the fried chicken place," Sam said. "Since you two coerced Freddie into getting you pizza tonight, I'm getting my own dinner."

"We should've brought you back pizza, shouldn't we?" Freddie smiled.

"You've known me since the fifth grade, nub," Sam grinned. "You should know if you leave a place that sells anything edible, you better be bringing me back some. Besides, after next week, I won't be able to have any normal food in the house without being lectured."

"How come?" Freddie asked.

"Melanie's staying with us until the wedding, remember?" Sam said. "_You're _the one who volunteered that during the last video chat we had with her! She was already to stay in a hotel, but _nooo_, you had to invite her here."

"Well she's your sister, Sam," Freddie pointed out.

"Yes, and I invited her to the wedding did I not?" Sam said.

"Awesome, Aunt Melanie's coming?" Leah exclaimed.

"Yeah, next week the place is gonna be real crazy," Sam said. "Aunt Melanie and Uncle Ben are gonna sleep on the pull out bed in the living room, your cousin Bradley is gonna share your room-"

"We have to share our room with an eight-year old boy?" Kira cringed.

"-And Carly's sleeping on an air mattress _somewhere _in here," Sam continued. She turned to Freddie. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. While I was putting off doing all my paperwork at work today, I made you a hotel reservation for the night before the wedding."

"Um, did I get kicked out or something?" Freddie asked, raising an eyebrow. "You could've at least told me."

"Come on, we can't spend the night before our wedding together," Sam grinned. "It will make the first night we have _after_ more special."

"We _are _still in the room," Leah said, as Kira gagged.

"Besides," Sam said, ignoring her daughter's comment. "I'm going to be getting ready here. You can't risk seeing me in my dress."

"Oh, so now you're buying into all these wedding superstitions?" Freddie asked playfully.

"Carly may have gotten through to me a little," Sam admitted. "Now if you'll _excuse _me, I have a bucket of chicken to order."


End file.
